Serum alpha-fetoprotein and neural tube defects in the first trimester of pregnancy

As part of the Medical Research Council randomized trial of vitamin supplementation in the prevention of neural tube defects (NTDs), maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was available for 19 NTD pregnancies. Each of these was matched with four unaffected controls, by maternal age, participating centre, and duration of sample storage. The samples came from women whose gestational age ranged from 6 to 14 completed weeks. The median AFP level in the affected pregnancies was 1·2 multiples of the median value in unaffected pregnancies of the same gestational age (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0·83–1·59). This confirmed the view that serum AFP measurement is of no practical value in the detection of NTDs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The study also showed that folic acid supplementation, used as a method of preventing NTDs, had no effect on the concentrations of maternal serum AFP up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.     

Ein quantitatives Strukturmaß in der digitalen Bildverarbeitung

Die Idee zu dieser Arbeit geht auf Diskussionen mit W. Priester über die Reduktion von Radiobeobachtungen ausgedehnter Galaxien im Jahre 1974 zurück. Die wesentlichen Teile wurden während eines Aufenthalts des Autors am Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, im Jahre 1987 entworfen. Ich habe ferner vielen Kollegen für hilfreiche Hinweise zu danken, darunter E. E. Baart, J. Condon, T. Cornwell, L. Erickson, S. Gottesman, J. Högbom, J. Skilling.     

International Workshop on Sustainable Forestry Management: Monitoring and Verification of Greenhouse Gases - Summary Statement

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change -     

巴西亚马孙流域热带森林的开垦与大豆生产:以朗多尼亚州维列纳市为例

近来巴西大豆生产的增长引发了环境保护团体以及一些学者对于亚马孙盆地的热带自然环境正在向大豆种植地转换的关注.大豆生产的支持者则认为大豆是区域的一种可行性农产品;对于环境的关注是没有根据的,因为新的大豆种植地正在替代已经被砍伐的林地或者是转换了的土地.两种观点虽被提出却都没有对大豆生产扩充区的土地利用与土地覆被(LULC)状况进行过综合研究与估量.本案例研究是在巴西的朗多尼亚州,亚马孙盆地西南部的维列纳市(Vimena),通过遥感手段对1996～2001年以来该市大豆种植面积的大幅度增加所伴随的土地利用与土地覆被变化状况进行评估.结果表明虽然森林变成了大豆生产基地,但是大部分的大豆生产的增长归功于对已有土地的微量扩充、已伐林地的转换以及更高的单位产量.     

Climatic variations in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea area

A very dry climate which prevailed during the last glacial maximum of the Pleistocene from India to the Sahara, was replaced by variable weather conditions with alternating more or less humid phases, starting from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition period and lasting up to about 3000 years ago, when present arid conditions set in. A particularly wet phase is recognized throughout the region some 5000 years ago. Phase shifts within the region and in particular changes in rain distribution patterns, are interpreted as due to shifting spheres of influence of the monsoonal circulation, of Atlantic depressions and moisture originating from the Mediterranean Sea. The condition of the Mediterranean Sea itself, which is influenced by runoff and melt waters from the European Continent and by the Nile floods, as well as by the eustatic sea-level changes, is not a good indicator of local climate conditions.